Scientists are reporting development of a nano-size capsule that boosts the
body's uptake of curcumin, an ingredient in yellow curry now being evaluated
in clinical trials for treatment of several diseases. Their study is in ACS'
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
 | | Yellow curry contains curcumin, a promising disease-fighter. Scientists developed nano-sized capsules containing the curry ingredient in an effort to improve its absorption and effectiveness in the body. Credit: Wikimedia Commons |
Koji Wada and colleagues note that curcumin is a potent antioxidant found in
the spice, turmeric. Clinical trials are checking its safety and effectiveness
for colon cancer, psoriasis, and Alzheimer's disease. However, digestive juice
in the gastrointestinal tract quickly destroys curcumin so that little actually
gets into the blood.
Scientists have known for years that encapsulating insulin and certain other
drugs into structures called liposomes can boost absorption. The scientists
prepared the liposomes encapsulating curcumin and fed them to laboratory rats.
Encapsulating more than quadrupled absorption of curcumin, and also boosted
antioxidant levels in the blood. The encapsulating process could be an answer
to the problem of increasing curcumin's absorption in the digestive environment
of the gastrointestinal tract, they suggest.
More information: "Evaluation of an Oral Carrier System in Rats: Bioavailability
and Antioxidant Properties of Liposome-Encapsulated Curcumin", Journal
of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/jf9013923
Posted November 4th, 2009
|
